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Relearning Fitness (Part 1) 6/26/2015 12:00:01 AM by: Susan Lyttek

Today, I will be reading parts of two weight-loss guides I downloaded to my pdf files. Yet again, I am trying another expert’s method, another author’s take on healthy living.

In other words, I am relearning fitness.

If you know anything about me personally, you would know that I’ve struggled all my life to keep my weight in a place where I am comfortable with it and myself. To that end, I am always reading new articles, research and trying new programs. My weight goes up and I cut back on food and/or drink my meals. (My guys call it sludge. It’s generally a mix of fruits, veggies and vegan protein powder.) The weight may go down for a while until it gets to the point where I’m grumpy, hungry and miserable all the time.

Not a good cycle.

Sometimes something works for a while and I both slim down and feel good. I was there a year and a half ago and making good progress towards my goal. Then a nasty parasite reversed all my hard work. Over a year of hard work was gone in a month. L

But diet is only one side of the equation. Exercise, the other, while not necessarily enjoyable, has been a blessing to me. When Karl was small and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, it was all I could do to move enough to survive. Then I learned, from both my doctor and research, that regular exercise could reduce the symptoms—and even keep the progression of fibro at bay. I made regular movement a part of my routine.

And it has worked.

I’ve known others with fibro, not regularly active, whose pain has intensified. I know it’s not as simple as one plus one equals two. There are many other variables. But from personal experience, whenever exercise loses priority, whether due to schedule or illness, the pain comes back with a vengeance. And if I have a flare-up, I recover faster if I make myself exercise—even though it feels like swimming through mud—than if I don’t.

Some weeks and seasons are better than others. But much to my surprise, about a week ago, when a song came on Pandora that had been one of my modern dance routines in college, I could (for the most part) do it.